DSi: Bye Bye GBA Slot

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Say farewell to DS "Slot 2" and all those peripherals that used it.

By Craig Harris

When November 1st rolls around in just a few weeks, Nintendo will launch the Nintendo DSi system to the Japanese market. For those that missed the original announcement, the Nintendo DSi is the "next generation" of the DS platform – it is what the Nintendo DS Lite was to the original Nintendo DS: a significant remodel and upgrade.

But unlike the Nintendo DS Lite, the Nintendo DSi actually adds brand new functions beyond the slight form adjustment: built into every unit are two digital cameras (one forward facing, one gamer facing) as well as internal writeable media and the addition of an SD card slot for digital downloads. So this is more than just a subtle update.

But where there were additions, one feature had to fall: the DSi removes the Game Boy Advance cartridge slot from the handheld. While many of you might not miss such an expansion port, as you'll read in the next few pages the removal is more significant than you might realize.

Using the DS Lite analogy one more time: there's no doubt in my mind that eventually the Nintendo DSi system will take over the dual-screen legacy. Enjoy what you have with the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite, because if you decide to upgrade to DSi – or if the DSi will be your entry handheld system – you'll lose out on these casualties of the inevitable system evolution .

Every Game Boy Advance Cartridge Ever MadeRelease: 2001 to Present.

Back in 2004, the Game Boy Advance was king of the gaming hill, an untouchable monstrosity in a handheld package. Nintendo was taking a risk by introducing a second portable platform, especially during the GBA's successful run. Incorporating Game Boy Advance compatibility was more an insurance policy for gamers: if the DS failed, you still could play the hundreds of GBA games already available and still to come.

As history tells, the DS wasn't a failure. In fact, it had the adverse effect of killing off the Game Boy platform completely. There are still the stray Game Boy Advance games hitting shelves, but for the most part the party's over and what's left of Game Boy Advance in stores is backstock. Truth be told, the Game Boy Advance compatibility of the DS is a luxury that's just not needed.

With one exception, of course. And that exception is Pokemon. Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl, the DS-native Pokemon adventures, actually enabled GBA gamers to bring over their Pokemon creatures from the old handheld to the new one. In fact, there were a handful of critters that were only available through this transfer means. Hopefully Pokemon Platinum, the third DS adventure, will fill in that gap if and when it ships in the US.

The Bright Side: The Nintendo DS wasn't 100% Game Boy Advance compatible – it didn't support multiplayer nor did it work with 8-bit Game Boy games. You can still obtain the brighter Game Boy Advance SP clamshell system – with full backward compatibility to Game Boy Color and black and white Game Boy products. But chances are you'll be able to buy classic Game Boy Advance games through the digital distribution on the DSi, which will give you access to little-played games for cheap.

Hopefully the announcement of the DSi wasn't a complete blindside to Activision. After all the company is still slated to release its motion pack-enhanced Tony Hawk's Motion to the Nintendo DS this November. Each copy of the game will come packaged with a DS and DS Lite-compatible cartridge that features Wii Remote-like motion recognition, so every tilt jolt and nudge on the system will be immediately recognizable in the game.

This game will be completely, 100% incompatible with the DSi system simply due to the fact that there's no way to plug this peripheral into the system. Had the DSi hardware incorporated accelerometers there might have been a chance for Tony Hawk's Motion and its built-in Hue Pixel Painter mini-game. But according to Nintendo, "motion" is something they've kept on Wii exclusively.

The Bright Side: As of this writing the game hasn't shipped yet, so we'll stay away from critiquing its quality. But if the game's successful on the DS Lite, a follow-up may happen. If that happens, Activision may consider the alternative: Motion add-on through an accelerometer built into the DS cartridge itself. These cartridges are already available to the homebrew crowd so it's certainly something that could see the light of day in the DSi era.